《The Manifest》Chapter 17

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After talking for another hour or so, Tuck gave Jessica a ride home and everyone else went their separate ways for the night. Edgar had a decent drive ahead of him, but sometimes he didn't mind living so far from his office. Time on the highway gave him a moment to reflect about his day and think about what he could have done or what he should do the next day. That way when he got home, he would be able to leave all that in the car most of the time and walk through the door like a blank canvas. This allowed him to crash rather easily and get a lot of sleep if there wasn't a good game on the tube. As he pulled into the garage, it had been around forty minutes since he left the office and he felt the urge to raid the fridge for any possible leftovers. He walked into the building through the garage, climbed a few flights of stairs and then strolled until he reached the door he was looking for. After opening a few locks, he entered the small one bedroom apartment, hung up his coat and huffed down on the couch and relaxed for a moment. He considered getting something strong to drink to possibly forget the roller coaster of a day he had, but thought sleep would likely be more effective in regenerating his batteries. He stood up and began to walk towards his bedroom, when he heard a suspicious sound coming from the bathroom. He lived alone, so this immediately caught his attention. Edgar didn't like unexpected surprises, and responded to the sound in his bathroom by pulling a semi-automatic berretta from the holster underneath his coat, and he slowly walked towards the bathroom. Without saying a word, he quickly kicked open the door to see who was there. After scaring the shit out of the woman in the bathroom with his sidearm, Edgar threw up his hands and groaned as he started to walk away from the bathroom.

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"Hello to you too, asshole." the lady in the bathroom called out as he walked away.

"Jesus, Meredith." Edgar called back as walked back to the fridge for something to settle his nerves, "I thought you gave the key back to me a long time ago."

"I had more than one copy made." Meredith responded as she walked out of the bathroom, "Is it safe to come out now?"

"Yes, it is." Edgar said as he just drained a gulp of vodka straight from the bottle. An unexpected guest after taking on this new case had him a little rattled and on edge that night.

"Have a rough day at work?" Meredith asked casually as she came into the kitchen.

"Not really, just one that's going to step on my last nerve for the next month or so." Edgar said as he took another gulp from the bottle, "There's a good chance this case might, no... it will be dangerous."

"How dangerous?" Meredith asked as she got a little closer to him. For the first time Edgar noticed that she was wearing a very sexy red teddy that didn't leave very much to the imagination.

"It's dangerous enough for me to ask you to stay home for a while." Edgar confessed, "The last thing I need on my conscious is the knowledge that what I did led to you being hurt in any way."

Edgar also knew that for the next while, he was going to be too nervous to have unexpected guests waiting for him at home all the time like Meredith was known for doing. He loved to have her over, because she was a healthy distraction but his first instinct was right: this was going to be a case too dangerous for her to hang around him for the next while.

"Maybe I like danger." She said as she cuddled into his arm, pretty much hinting that she wanted to go back to the bedroom. Edgar was paid to notice hints and clues like this so he responded by putting the bottle back into the fridge.

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As he followed her towards the bedroom he called after her, "I'm very serious. I need you to leave the keys at the door when you leave tomorrow."

Meredith stopped halfway down the hall and turned back, "Is there a problem with having me hang around for a little fun?" she said somewhat disturbed by the mere suggestion.

"No, of course not." Edgar quickly replied, desperately trying to do a little damage control, "I not lying or trying to get rid of you. We've seriously starting a case that if takes a turn for the world could become very dangerous in a New York minute. I'd like you to keep your distance so that I won't have to worry about your well being while trying to worry about my own. It's not a distraction I need when working a case this massive."

She walked over and embraced Edgar and gave him a soft kiss on the lips. He loved those soft little pecks. Not too hard and not too soft, just the right kind that are intimate and yet not dirty at the same time. She looked him in the eyes as he seemed to have the defeated look in his eyes.

"Alright," Meredith finally conceded, "I can see by that puppy dog look that you are quite serious. I'm flattered that you care enough to want me to be safe. I really do appreciate that."

"Thanks. I do like having you here... always have." Edgar said as he put his arms around her waist, "I'm just going to need my A game in order to make everything work out. Because of this case, Tuck and I managed to land a mammoth paycheck for the business."

Meredith seemed taken back by this sudden announcement, "How big are we talking here, handsome?"

"Try 'Sir Nigel Norsberg' big." Edgar said, knowing she was aware of his history with the old fart. They had been an item that long and he talked to her about a lot of her cases.

"Holy shit!" Meredith said as she finally realized what kind of case he was getting involved in, "How big is this case?"

"Let's just say he paid us upfront, and with a lot of zeroes." Edgar said as he removed his coat, "More than enough for us take that trip to Fiji we've always been talking about. Spend the better part of a month on the beach, sipping drinks with small umbrellas in them."

"Wow," she said, "that sounds fun."

"We could even go ring shopping if you're up for it." Edgar added, knowing that would get the reaction he was hoping for.

Meredith started to blush and couldn't believe what she was hearing, "Do you really mean that Edgar?"

"I do." Edgar confirmed, "But for now I need you to keep your space for the next few weeks, because we expect this case to piss off a lot of people. The kind of people who might use vandalism, violence and anything else they can think of to shake us from this case. Understood?"

"Alright, I promise." Meredith said as she held him again. They kissed again for a few moments, then she looked him in the eyes, "Feel like ordering out?"

"As long as it's anything but Thai, I'm all for it." Edgar said as he scooped her up into his arms, "But first, I think we need to work up an appetite."

Edgar then carried Meredith off to the bedroom at the end of the hall and closed the door behind him.

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